What Are You Doing Here? We have no idea what to do with this space. If you have an idea, please let us know. Thanks! No camping, please.

What Are You Doing Here? We have no idea what to do with this space. If you have an idea, please let us know. Thanks! No camping, please.

Places to Go…”DBTS” Visits the Men’s Room

March 22, 2011

We all have favorites. Favorite restaurant. Favorite bar. Favorite patio. Favorite beer. Favorite song, team, book or nook. Well, when you think about it, you probably have your favorite W.C. as well. The one at the next place you’re going instead of the same old just functional boring space where you are.

We don’t purport to have visited every public men’s room in Downtown Denver. Who has? But then, the dog probably didn’t really get to every tree in the park either. So, here, we’ll flush out a few of our favorites and hope to hear from you about others we shouldn’t miss.

Stand to the Left, Please

If you haven’t wandered down the stairs in the lobby of the Oxford Hotel, you probably haven’t seen the “Kings”. The hotel opened in 1891 and we suspect these fixtures were there at that time. If not, we can’t imagine someone moving them down the stairs. They are true works of art, the largest urinals in the State of Colorado and well worth a visit. And, the Ladies’ next door is far from shabby as well. Visit both. It’s OK. And, while there, look for an old cowboy hanging around. Of course, when you are actually looking for a ghost, you never see them. Others have.

Just across the street from the Oxford sits Mangiamo Pronto at the corner of 17th and Wazee. We like the food. We like the bar and the service. We really like the decor and atmosphere. And, we really, really like the early 50’s Ducati poster in the men’s room! It’s for the “Cucciolo” (Little Puppy) motorbike that catapulted Ducati into motorcycle legend. The poster had to help! Take a look.

Crepes n’ Crepes in Writer Square is just the right amount of French. And, when you visit the restroom (either one, really), you can almost imagine you have just walked into the bathroom of your three-star hotel in the South of France. And, that’s a nice thing. Please close the door when you leave.

Back towards the ballpark, a bit of corporate opulence can be had at The Keg Steakhouse. Make your way through all us hipsters in the bar to very nice, stylish digs. The doors are heavy but worth the work. Wood, chrome, towels.

And, All that Jazz!

And, speaking of hipsters, we’ll put this one in for historical significance. Tom Noel includes this facility on his fascinating and entertaining historic LoDo tavern tours. It’s the men’s room at El Chapultepec, and we suspect it has looked like this since opening in 1933 as soon as Prohibition ended. The little corner jazz club at 20th and Market has had many famous visitors. Your visit can be spent thinking that Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Frank Sinatra and even Bill Clinton may have gone here. Not all at the same time, though.

We’ll keep exploring, taking notes and reporting back to our Denver by the Slice readers on the best places to go. It’s our job.